Helping Young Children and Their Families Thrive 4/20 Helping Young Children and Their Families Thrive NAEH Conference July 2017

Speakers Marsha Basloe, DHHS, ACF, Washington, D.C. 4/20 Speakers Marsha Basloe, DHHS, ACF, Washington, D.C. Joe Willard, People’s Emergency Center, PA Janelle Leppa, Family Housing Programs, MN Discussion & Q & A

Young Children are Disproportionately Impacted by Homelessness 4/20 Young Children are Disproportionately Impacted by Homelessness Source: AHAR and Census Data

The Early Years Matter The first three to five years represent the most critical period of development Relationships, experiences, and environments shape development Early experiences lay the foundation for later success…or challenges

A Young Brain with Adverse Experiences Neurons that remain inactive or are rarely stimulated are eliminated

Brain Malleability– Harvard Center on the Developing Child

Why is Early Childhood Important? 4/20 Why is Early Childhood Important? Implications of suboptimal brain development Lower IQ Decreased vocabulary and impaired language Impaired mental and emotional health Impaired learning Cognitive delays

Homelessness Harms Children 4/20 Homelessness Harms Children Lower birth weights More likely to have moderate to severe acute or chronic health problems Three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems Four times the rate of developmental delays Twice as likely to go hungry Twice as likely as others to repeat a school grade, be expelled or suspended, or drop out of high school More likely to experience a traumatic event Compromised brain development

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Housing providers can change the developmental (and life Housing providers can change the developmental (and life!) trajectory of young children today so they don’t become the homeless adults of tomorrow

HHS-HUD-ED Early Childhood Homelessness Collaboration Share recommendations on ways in which early childhood, homeless, and housing providers at the local and, in some cases, State levels can collaborate to provide safe, stable, and nurturing environments for pregnant women and families with young children who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness Three recommendations: Support a Two-Generation Approach through Partnerships Enhance Early Childhood Integration with Coordinated Entry Improve, Leverage, and Integrate Early Childhood Homelessness Data ;

Early Childhood Self-Assessment Tools: Family Shelters and Supportive Housing .

About the Tools: Nuts and Bolts Assessment, action plan, on-going monitoring Recommendations by domain Recommendations by level of resource/investment Resources, information links, etc. Action plan template/guide Low stakes—assessment doesn’t cost anything but minimal time CQI—growth over proficiency

Head Start Program Head Start (HS) Early Head Start (EHS) 4/20 Head Start Program Head Start (HS) Serves children ages 3-5 years old and their families. Early Head Start (EHS) Serves pregnant mothers and children ages birth to 3 years old and their families. Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships (EHS – CCP) Early Head Start delivered in partnership with providers receiving child care subsidies. Number of Grants - 2,000 Head Start and Early Head Start child serving grants.

New Head Start Performance Standards HS/EHS programs must develop a community needs assessment at least once every five years. This assessment must reflect the needs of homeless children Homeless children are categorically eligible for HS/EHS based on the ED definition of homeless and without the need for income verification HS/EHS have a variety of flexible options for verifying and documenting a child's homeless status for purposes of program eligibility HS/EHS programs may reserve up to 3% of slots for homeless and foster children HS/EHS programs must provide a grace period for homeless families to meet immunization requirements and must assist with getting needed immunizations HS/EHS programs must establish collaborative relationships and partnerships with the local liaison and homeless service providers

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) 4/20 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) CCDF is the largest source of federal funding to help pay for child care for low-income working parents. Serves 1.4 million children under age 13 from 850,000 low-income working families each month. Provided $5.7 billion in discretionary and mandatory/matching funds in FY2016 to States, Territories and Tribes.

Requirements in the CCDBG Act The new Child Care Law (CCDBG Act of 2014) requires: Procedures to permit enrollment of children experiencing homelessness prior to completion of all required documentation (including grace periods for compliance with immunization and other health and safety requirements). Training and technical assistance on identifying and serving homeless families. Specific outreach to families experiencing homelessness. Coordination with programs working with children experiencing homelessness. Lead Agencies to collect and report whether a CCDF family is experiencing homelessness. The law established minimum 12 month eligibility periods, regardless of a temporary change in parents’ status as working or attending job training or education, if family income does not exceed 85% of SMI.

4/20 Updated Early Childhood Homelessness in the United States: The 50-State Profile The Updated 50-state profile provides a snapshot of early childhood data available for children who are experiencing homelessness in each state and includes publicly available data for 2014-2015. The updated profile also includes two new related factors: the percentage of families experiencing a high housing cost burden and the percentage of low-income working families with young children under 6. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ ecd/epfp_50_state_profiles_6_15_17_508. pdf

Recent Research on Children Using Family Options Data 4/20 Recent Research on Children Using Family Options Data www.opre.gov; www.aspe.gov

4/20 Resources Contact info: Marsha Basloe, Senior Advisor for Early Childhood Development Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary, ACF, DHHS 330 C Street SW; 4th Floor 4012E, Washington, DC 20201 (202) 401-7241; Marsha.Basloe@acf.hhs.gov https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/interagency-projects/ece-services-for-homeless-children https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/homeless_table_ccdf_fy2016_fy2018_state_plan.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/echomelessnesspolicystatement.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/opre_homefam_brief3_hhs_children_02_24_2017_b508.pdf